Ukrainian-American Pastor Says His Homeland Is Watching for God to Show Up

Douglas Blair /

In the darkest of times, we are tempted to give in to despair. For those living in war-torn Ukraine, the temptation must be enormous.

But all around the world, people are seeing images of hope and faith amid Ukraine’s gloom. In basements, rubble-strewn streets, and underground rail stations, the Ukrainian people are coming together.

Pastor Andrew Moroz, an American, was born in Ukraine and has many relatives there. He says he understands the desire to keep up hope.

“Life in some ways has to go on in the midst of a war zone,” Moroz says.

“There are some things that are normal and there are many things that are not normal that are happening right now, but people are continuing to pursue each other and pursue God in some way.”

Moroz joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss how Ukrainians are resisting the urge to give up, and how faith there is stronger than ever.

We also cover these stories:

Listen to the podcast below or read the lightly edited transcript:

Doug Blair: My guest today is Pastor Andrew Moroz, a Ukrainian-American pastor with Gospel Community Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Pastor, welcome to the show.

Pastor Andrew Moroz: Thank you so much for having me.

Blair: Before we dive into the meat of this interview, which is obviously about what’s going on in Ukraine right now, I want to know, what is your connection with Ukraine? Do you have family and friends there still or is it mostly people here in America?

Moroz: Yeah, so, I was born in Ukraine during the Soviet Union in the mid-’80s. My family moved to the United States; my mom, my dad, my brother, and I moved to the United States in the mid-’90s. And so I still have many aunts, uncles, cousins, a lot of friends, people I love, individuals that we’ve done ministry with through our church, many relationships over there.

Blair: And are they safe? I know that there’s been a lot of concern with people who have their friends and family in the country. Are they evacuated? Are they in a safe place in Ukraine? How are they doing?

Moroz: I have some family members that have made it to Poland who are now refugees, waiting to see what happens with Ukraine. I have others who have made it to smaller communities. They’ve left the big city.

So many of my family members were living in the city of Kyiv, but they have moved to smaller communities temporarily. And they’re still sheltering in place, trying to learn how to do life in the midst of a war zone. So they are out of harm’s way, but nobody’s really safe. Not until this thing’s over.

Blair: Absolutely. Well, we are keeping them in our thoughts and our prayers, and we hope that they remain safe, if they are right now. So, I want to talk about something that you probably have a little bit more insight on, which is the religious parts of this ongoing conflict in Ukraine. We’ve been seeing all this footage from the battlefield of people praying and gathering together to worship. How has this conflict overall affected the faith of the Ukrainian people?

Moroz: Whenever people experience suffering and pain, there are obvious questions about, No. 1, “God, where are you?” So there’s a group of people that are saying, “God, where are you? And why aren’t you intervening?” Which is normal. That’s a very important question.

And then there’s a group of people that are on their knees, crying out to God: “God, do something about this. We know you’re real and we know you can do this.”

And so, as I’m engaging with spiritual leaders in Ukraine, they’re both addressing the question for people who are asking, “God, are you even here? What are you doing?” and helping to shepherd those who are praying and seeking God.

I saw pictures of worship services over the weekend where people are gathered in the basements of their churches, they’re smaller groups of people, or people are doing church or ministry in their homes right now.

I saw a picture of a young couple that was getting engaged, which is interesting. Life in some ways has to go on in the midst of a war zone. And so there are some things that are normal and there are many things that are not normal that are happening right now, but people are continuing to pursue each other and pursue God in some way.

Blair: It does seem like it would be hard to keep up hope amidst all of this. So what are some of the Ukrainians doing to keep up with this? And I guess, as a further question on that, … does their history as a former member of the Soviet Union play into this kind of like, “We’ll get through this”?

Moroz: And not just the Soviet Union, but going back, maybe even a little bit further, Ukrainians have had to adjust throughout the course of their history. They’ve been conquered and invaded before, Ukraine’s been destroyed before. They’ve had to make more with little.

And as I’ve been talking to friends and various reporters about the country of Ukraine, one of the things that is absolutely true about Ukraine and Ukrainians is they’re resilient people. So, they’re resilient. The church in Ukraine, the spiritual community in Ukraine is resilient. They had to worship underground during the Soviet Union. … Many of them were not allowed to express their faith.

But the people as a whole also are just very resilient. And so what we’ve seen is they’re coming together maybe in ways unlike ever before, as a nation, as a people. They are serving each other and encouraging each other.

And many of my friends are experiencing this, especially those who are involved right now in refugee work—as they’re driving in to rescue people, they are stopped along the way and people give them money, or people will give them supplies, or just when they know that the work is going toward serving those who are displaced, Ukrainians are very generous.

And so, yes, historically they’ve had to do this before. And so they’ve functioned in this environment before. But, of course, we are praying that this ends quickly and that this ends in a positive light where Ukraine is able to remain a nation, where they can continue to develop as a democracy.

Blair: We spoke briefly before, there are these images that are coming to us across the world of these prayer services and worship services in the most strange of places, metro stations, in the middle of streets, in basements. Is this leading to a resurgence in faith in Ukraine, this conflict?

Moroz: I think the moments like this certainly prompt faith and revival and renewal, when you’re in a situation where you are completely helpless.

And the Ukrainian nation, especially when we began this war over almost three weeks ago, they were at a terrible disadvantage. You have an incredible military force that’s coming in. When you’re in this place where you’re not sure how you’re going to survive, then yeah, it’s natural to cry out, to call out to a higher power.

So I do think that there is a renewal and a revival that is taking place. And I’m genuinely hopeful for the community of faith, but also for the nation as a whole. On the other side of this, with the tools and resources that they’re able to gain from the rest of the world, I think they’re going to be in such a good position to rebuild and to be a healthy nation, as long as they can get through this season of conflict.

Blair: Now, we’ve seen faith leaders from across the world, … not just Christianity, who have called for the Russian Federation to end hostilities in Ukraine. There was one notable exception to that, which would be the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Cyril. How have religious leaders’ statements on both sides—both the Russian Orthodox Church, pro-Russian forces and then the rest of the world, anti-Russian invasion—how have those statements affected the war?

Moroz: The people of Ukraine are so grateful to hear the support of various spiritual leaders across the globe. It’s important for them to hear that we’re standing with them.

And I’m not as connected to the Russian spiritual community or even the Orthodox Church, but my understanding is there’s so much propaganda and so much brainwashing in the Russian Federation that there have not been as many expressions of condemnation from the Russian spiritual community toward the conflict in Ukraine.

They’re still getting caught up on information, on what exactly is going on, because what they’ve been told is different than the actual experience.

So part of the conflict, and you alluded to this earlier, one of the things that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin is furious about is the separation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church, and he wants a realignment with those two churches. That was one of his early demands in this war, is, we’re going to get rid of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, we’re going to have one Orthodox Church.

And I think the reason why that’s important for him is because he is in a very close relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church. And individuals who are in positions of power, if they can control religion and they can control politics and they control media, that’s one of the ways that they manipulate people. That’s one of the ways that they keep people in bondage.

So I know, as I’ve been watching this and communicating with friends in Ukraine, there is this fear that if the Russian Federation is actually able to take over Ukraine, which is a big if, that there will be oppression and persecution for individuals that want to have free expressions of faith who do not align with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Putin regime. So I don’t know, we’re watching that very closely.

Blair: So it does seem like that there’s this expectation in Ukraine that the religious element of Putin’s war conquest is part of that. It’s not just about taking territory. It’s also about conquering the religion.

Moroz: Absolutely. It’s about total alignment and conformity to the Russian regime, to the way that Putin operates Russia. And he wants to have total control over the financial district and business leaders. I’m hearing as all of these sanctions have been put in place, I’m hearing that Putin is being very critical of business leaders in Russia right now, and scaring them into conforming to his regime.

And I know that also, he wants alignment in the religious sector. He wants the religious community to endorse him, to support him, because then that makes it seem like he is a spiritual man or God’s man, like he’s a man of good.

He’s pretending like he’s doing something good in Ukraine, which is in reality not true. He’s an agent of evil. And we see all the pain and destruction that he is causing under the banner of maybe this faux support from the Russian Orthodox Church.

Blair: … To shift focus to something positive, there was an article from the News and Advance earlier this month that highlighted something really nice that you and your congregation did for the Ukrainian people. Apparently you guys took a photo of prayer time over here in the states and sent it over to your contacts in Ukraine. What was the reaction from the Ukrainian people that you sent those photos to about what you did?

Muroz: Man, it was such a blessing to invite my church and other churches in our community to support Ukraine and to be able to do it as a Ukrainian, so they know who I am.

And that photo, man, there were tears of joy. There was so much gratitude. I had messages from Ukrainian friends who were saying, “Thank you for standing with us. Thank you for praying for us.” And they really sensed the support. They really sense what we would call the presence of God with them in the midst of their struggle. And one of the ways that they were able to sense it was through that act of love.

And the act of love was we paused our services and we prayed. We just stopped. We stopped our normal. We allowed interruptions into our life. Their life is being interrupted. We allowed an interruption into our life to stand with them in this way.

And not everybody from Lynchburg, Virginia, can go over and serve on the front lines in Ukraine, but everybody here in the states can do something. They can do their part, whether it’s praying or serving or giving.

Blair: Have you or your contacts in Ukraine done anything like this since? Has this been an ongoing thing or are there other ways that you’ve shown support through the church community for Ukraine?

Moroz: We are continuing to pray on a weekly basis. We are also actively supporting work on the ground. Right now, a lot of the focuses are refugee care and serving those who are displaced or those who can’t leave.

They’re individuals that are not able to leave the country of Ukraine for various reasons—they’re taking care of somebody that they love, an elderly family member, or maybe they have disabilities, or maybe they’re actively serving on the front lines, defending Ukraine.

So there’s many reasons why people can’t leave, but we are supporting financially the work of those who are transporting refugees, we’re helping to purchase medicine and supplies.

One of the beautiful things about being a globally connected world is relatively quickly, instantly, you can send money from the United States to individuals in Ukraine who are doing good work. And so we’re doing that.

In addition to that, today, as we’re recording this conversation, we are partnering with another church to send a small team of spiritual leaders and trauma counselors to Poland, to help work with refugees and hopefully to create some pathways for us to send additional individuals to help in the future.

So we’re just trying to think of all the different ways that we can be present, financially, spiritually, and then even actively being on the ground whenever we have those opportunities.

Blair: I know that when I’m looking at these images on screen, it can sometimes feel like, as just one person here in Washington, it’s very difficult for me to make an impact on this. Is there a way that the Ukrainian people themselves have expressed, “This is what you can do for me in Ukraine right now”? What are they saying for us to help them? How can we do that?

Moroz: The sentiment that you described is one that I hear often … when I have conversations with reporters or friends, and they’re saying, “I just don’t know what else I can do.”

And the fact that we’re having this conversation, that you and I are able to engage, is advocating for the people of Ukraine. It’s keeping the message in front of those of us here in the United States who have normal lives and who are really distracted. So it’s important to keep advocating.

And the Ukrainian people are asking for that, “Please don’t forget us. Don’t forget that there’s still a war happening here. We know it’s dragging on longer, but don’t forget about us.”

And it’s not lost on me that in Russia, you would not be able to have this conversation. You would not be able to have this podcast because there are restrictions on who’s allowed to speak and what they’re allowed to say.

So, because we have a voice, we have to use that voice, whether it’s on social media or through various other relationships that we have. So people are asking us to advocate.

They need help with medicine and supplies. And there’s various groups that are helping with that. I have a friend in Ukraine that’s working for a group called the Medical Procurement of Ukraine. It’s a national group that’s helping to secure supplies, medicine, and technology.

And, of course, they’re asking for military support. They’re going to keep asking for us to advocate to close the skies because they’re being bombed heavily every single day.

So there are things that they’re asking us, and I think it’s important for us to pay attention to the Ukrainian government. They’re sending out messages every single day.

[Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is doing an incredible job at both managing this crisis in Ukraine, but also communicating clearly about what they need. And I think it’s important for us to pay attention to him and to his government, because he’s asking for some very specific things. And I think we need to ask of our leaders, so not all of us are in positions of leadership, but we need to ask our leaders to respond and to be present and supportive.

Blair: As we wrap, I do want to follow-up on that question about hope, because I feel like, again, as we’re watching these images, it can be so simple to just be like, “This is the worst. The world is terrible. What’s the point?” And, of course, the Ukrainian people are still fighting back and they’re fighting for their lives, their livelihoods, their homeland. And how do we here, across the world, watching these images on our screen, how do we keep up the hope? How do we keep the faith that things are going to be OK?

Moroz: I’m going to come back to something that Jesus said when he was on Earth. And he warned us, or brought back to our attention, that in this world we’re going to have trouble. And he said that there’s going to be things that happen that are challenging, and that seemingly steal our hope and steal our joy. But Jesus said, “Take heart. I have overcome the world.”

And what he meant by that was he was going to die. He was going to be crucified. And then Easter, in Easter we celebrate his resurrection. He was going to come back from the dead. And Jesus showed to us that he was going to overcome death.

What we’re experiencing on our screens, and through media, we’re seeing images of death and violence. And Jesus said, “I came to overcome that.” And the ultimate hope for followers of Jesus Christ, and for those of us here who are watching these images, is that one day evil will be defeated. Good will win, because Jesus will win that victory.

And so in the Book of Revelation, we have this image of a new world one day in the future, where there is no death, there are no tears, there is no pain. And that world is possible because Jesus truly has overcome.

And in the meantime, while we wrestle and reckon with the death and the brokenness around us, we look for elements of good and beauty. And it’s beautiful to see Ukrainians coming together. It’s beautiful to see people sacrificing to fight for good in order to defeat evil.

So, I’m saying, let’s look for good now. And let’s look forward to this future that Jesus promised and anchor our hope in that.

Blair: That was Pastor Andrew Moroz, a Ukrainian-American pastor with Gospel Community Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Pastor, thank you so much for those inspiring words. I wish you the best of luck and your family, of course, in Ukraine. And hopefully we get out of this soon.

Moroz: Thank you so much. God bless you.

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